USA > Maryland > Genealogical and memorial encyclopedia of the state of Maryland, a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume II > Part 10
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McComas street, the Belt Line railroad and the dredging of Spring Gardens Channel. He was a descendant of Scotch Highland ancestors who settled in Nova Scotia, and his early life was one of stirring adventure. But the enthusiasm and reckless daring of youth gave way to the settled purpose of mature years and he became one of the strong men of his day, but never outgrowing his love for the unusual and extremely difficult problems of his business.
Colin McLean was born at Antigonish, Nova Scotia, died at his home, 1591 Eutaw Place, Baltimore, Maryland, April 29, 1916, aged seventy-two years. He was noted in boyhood for his adventurous spirit but kept himself under control until he was fourteen, then with a few belongings tied up in a small bundle, he attempted to stow away on a large sailing vessel in Halifax harbor, but failed in his first attempt. Later he again started away from home secretly determined to see the world and that time he succeeded. He sailed the seas for several years, was mate of a merchant ship at the age of twenty and indeed "saw the world." When the sea palled upon him, he made a sudden change, quit his ship in New York harbor and for several months worked under the surface of the East river with the sand hogs, digging to a solid rock foundation for the piers of the Brooklyn Bridge. When that work lost its novelty he became a rigger on the same structure. The pay was large and he saved his wages until he had sufficient capital and experience to carry into execution an ambition he had formed to himself to become a contractor of similar work. He began with construction work obtained from the Long Island Railroad Company and so well were those operations executed that he was entrusted with the Company's most im- portant work. He built their extensive system of piers on the East river and a large number of the hotels the company caused to be erected in their plan for the development of
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Long Island. This work was not done under contract but as the company's construction manager at a large salary. From the Long Island Railroad Company he went to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, then under the presidency of John W. Garrett, Mr. McLean's position being superintendent of bridges and buildings. During the years which followed he constructed nearly all the improvements made by the Balti- more and Ohio, including the elevators at Locust Point, the round houses, piers, machine shops and nearly all the wharves and terminal facilities in Baltimore and other ports reached by the road's connecting lines.
Leaving the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Mr. McLean carried out his long cherished ambition to become an inde- pendent contractor. He returned to New York City and entered the lists against the old established firms of that sec- tion. But none knew their business better than Colin McLean and he rapidly forged to the front. His first important con- tract was the large station of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Twenty-fourth and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia, fol- lowed by the building of several water front piers. This gave him prestige and from that time until his death he constructed the most difficult and largest structures in different cities along the Atlantic coast. In addition to the works previously enum- erated the more important works constructed under contract by Mr. McLean, through his firm The McLean Construction Company, were foundations for the East River and Williams- burg bridges, New York, the transfer bridges and wharves of the Brooklyn Wharf and Warehouse Company; all the im- provements of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on Staten Island, New York; the Atlantic and North Carolina trestle, two miles long from Beaufort to Moorehead City; the Nor- folk Southern trestle, six miles long over navigable water in Albermarle Sound; the five mile sea wall at Charleston, South
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Carolina; the piers at Norfolk and Newport News for the Norfolk and Western Railroad; the Southern, the Atlantic Coast Line, the Chesapeake Steamship and Virginia Railway Companies. Another contract difficult of execution in which he took a deep interest was for draining a part of the Dismal Swamp. These were the principal achievements of the life of this master builder, this physical and construction giant. He loved his work and was a master spirit no matter how many eminent engineers, contractors or capable men surrounded him. The emolument he received, and the profit secured through the completion of a difficult complex contract, did not give him half the satisfaction as the fact that it was com- pleted, in the face of all difficulty, on time, and his was the master mind which had directed it.
Mr. McLean married (first) - -, who died in 1884. Issue: George McLean and Josephine McLean. He mar- ried (second) Catherine Maddy, of New York City, Feb- ruary 28, 1892. They had one son, Colin McLean, Jr., who died October 20, 1913.
GEORGE BLAKISTON
G' EORGE BLAKISTON was a representative of a family which, for nearly two centuries and a half, has given to the State of Maryland and to the Nation many useful and heroic citizens who have borne well their part in life.
The name of Blakiston first appears in English history in 1341, no doubt called into prominence by participation in the career of conquest upon which Edward III. was then en- tering, and which could not fail to evoke the martial spirit of this ancient race. The Blakiston family of Maryland de- scends from the Blakistons of Newton Hall, a branch of the Blakistons of Blakiston, in the Palatinate of Durham. The name has at different times been variously spelled, but the correct orthography is Blakiston. The arms and crest are as follows :
Arms-Argent, two bars, and in chief three dunghill cocks, gules.
Crest-A dunghill cock or, crested, armed, wattled, and collared, gules.
(I) The Rev. Marmaduke Blakiston, of Newton Hall, immediate ancestor of the Maryland family, was the fifth son of John Blakiston, of Blakiston, by his first wife Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir George Bowes, of Dalden and Streatham, Kent. He was vicar of Woodborne, rector of Red- marshall in 1585, rector of Sedgefield in 1599, and prebendary of Durham, and was buried at St. Margaret's, Crossgate, September 3, 1639. He married, June 30, 1595, Margaret James, who was buried at St. Margaret's, March 10, 1636. Their children were: Tobye, of Newton Hall; John, men- tioned below; Thomas, vicar of North Allerton and preben- dary of Wistow, ejected during the civil wars; Robert, rector of Sedgefield and prebendary of Durham on the resignation of his father in 1631; Ralph, rector of Ryton, county Pala- tinate; Henry, of Old Malton, County York; Peter, sometime
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of Old Malton; George, sheriff of Durham in 1656, emigrated to Maryland with his family in 1668, settled in St. Mary's county and died the following year; Frances, married John Cosin, Lord Bishop of Durham; Mary, married Ralph Allen- son, merchant in Durham; and Margaret, married Thomas Shadforth of Eppleton, County Palatinate.
(II) John Blakiston, son of Rev. Marmaduke and Mar- garet (James) Blakiston, was baptized August 21, 1603. In 1641 he was member of Parliament for Newcastle, in 1645 was mayor of Newcastle, and in 1649 was one of the judges who pronounced sentence of death on King Charles I. He married, November 9, 1626, at All Saints', Newcastle, Susan Chambers, and their children were: John, died in infancy; John (2), barrister-at-law; Joseph, died in infancy; Nehe- miah, mentioned below; Rebecca, married James Lance ; Elizabeth, died in infancy. John Blakiston, the father, died in 1650.
(III) Nehemiah Blakiston, son of John and Susan (Chambers) Blakiston, is named in his father's will, 1649, and in 1674 we find him claiming land in St. Mary's county, Maryland. He probably came to this country in 1668, with his uncle, George Blakiston, who is stated, in his brother's will, to have "suffered much in public concerns", and would seem to have emigrated for this reason, as well as on account of his relationship to the regicide judge. No doubt the family shared in the persecution which, after the Restoration, was endured by the Commonwealth leaders, some of whom testified on the scaffold to their loyalty to the cause of freedom. Nehemiah Blakiston was one of the attorneys of the Provin- cial Court and of the Courts of St. Mary's and Charles coun- ties, and in addition to the active practice of the legal pro- fession he filled the office of clerk of the King's customs for Wicomico and Potomac rivers. In the Revolution of 1689
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he played an important part, and for his good services at this time received a vote of thanks from the Assembly. At the same time he was commissioned captain of a troop of horse in St. Mary's county militia, and in a letter dated July 17, 1690, writes that he has been appointed president of the Com- mittee for the Present Government of this Province. April 21, 1691, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Provincial Court of Maryland, and in the same year was Speaker of the Assembly. August 26, 1691, he was commissioned a member of the Council of Maryland, and on April 8, 1692, was recom- missioned a justice of the Provincial Court. He was com- missioned colonel probably on the following day, his name thereafter always appearing as "Colonel Nehemiah Blakis- ton". He married, May 6, 1669, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Gerard, of St. Clement's Manor, who was for a num- ber of years a member of the Council of Maryland, but later removed to Westmoreland county, Virginia, and died there in 1673. Children: John, mentioned below; Susanna, mar- ried (first) Thomas, grandson of Secretary Thomas Hatton, slain at the battle of St. Mary's, 1665; (second), John Atta- way; Rebecca, married Walters; Mary, married Mat- thew Mason. Colonel Nehemiah Blakiston continued his career of honorable service to the close of his life, being pre- sent at a meeting of the Council, August 25, 1693, and dying not long after, his widow, Madame Elizabeth Blakiston, being cited to administer on his estate December II of the same year.
(IV) John Blakiston, son of Nehemiah and Elizabeth (Gerard) Blakiston, married Anne, daughter of his stepfather, Joshua Guibert, and their children were: Nehemiah, pro- bably died young; John, mentioned below; Thomas; Eliza- beth, married Roswell Neale, of St. Mary's county; and Su- sanna, married Robert Mason, of the same county. John Blakiston, the father, died in the autumn of 1724.
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(V) John Blakiston, son of John and Anne (Guibert) Blakiston, married Eleanor, daughter of Colonel George Dent, of Charles county, and the following were their children : Nehemiah Herbert, mentioned below; George, died 1774; and John, died 1802. John Blakiston, the father, was a large landowner in St. Mary's county, and died January 18, 1756.
(VI) Nehemiah Herbert Blakiston, son of John and Eleanor (Dent) Blakiston, died in 1816, and in his will devises to his children Longworth's Point, which had descended to him from his great grand-father, Nehemiah Blakiston, and Elizabeth (Gerard) Blakiston, his wife. The records of King and Queen parish, St. Mary's county, show that Nehemiah Herbert Blakiston was several times elected a vestryman of the parish. He married (first) January 30, 1772, Mary, daughter of Kenelm and Chloe Cheseldine, and (second), in August, 1801, Eleanor Gardiner Hebb. By his first wife he had issue: Thomas; Eleanor; Kenelm; Mary; George, men- tioned below; Margaret, married - Goldsmith; and Dent. The children of his second marriage were: Henry Herbert, married Ann E. Shanks; John; Bernard, married Rebecca Jordan Allstone; Caroline Gardiner, died 1817; Juliana; and Jane Maria, married Robert McK. Hammett.
(VII) George Blakiston, son of Nehemiah Herbert and Mary (Cheseldine) Blakiston, was born November 28, 1780, and his will, dated November 7, 1842, was proved in St. Mary's county, January 17, 1843. He married, in January, 1813, Rebecca Goldsmith, and had issue: James Thomas, mentioned below; Richard Pinkney, a physician; George Wellington, married Joanna Cheseldine; Lilias D., married John F. Dent; Zachariah Demeneau, married Harriet Ann Shanks; Lucinda, married J. R. W. Mankin; Ann Rebecca, married Biscoe Cheseldine ; and Priscilla Hebb, married Lancaster.
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(VIII) James Thomas Blakiston, son of George and Rebecca (Goldsmith) Blakiston, was a lawyer, and one of the most prominent men in the business and political life of St. Mary's county. He married, in November, 1840, Ann, daughter of Dr. William Thomas, of Cremona, St. Mary's county, and Eliza, his wife, daughter of Henry and Mary (Sothoron) Tubman. The death of Colonel Blakiston was widely and sincerely mourned as that of a man admirable in all the relations of life.
Colonel Blakiston and his wife were the parents of the following children: William Thomas, Teackle Wallis and George, mentioned below; Walter, deceased ; James T .; An- drew; and four daughters: Bettie, Jane T., Ann T. and Ella Rebecca. William Thomas, the eldest son, was a cadet at West Point, and a member of the graduating class at the break- ing out of the Civil War. His sense of duty to his State prompted his resignation. He joined the Confederate army, and after participating in many leading campaigns, was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg and died from the effects of the wound in July, 1863. At the time of his death he was first sergeant in Company A, Second Maryland Regiment, commanded by Captain William H. Murray. His commis- sion as first lieutenant had been made out but was not received until after his death. Of the daughters, Jane T. married Joseph R. Foard, and Ann T. married William N. Conway, of Baltimore City.
(IX) Teackle Wallis Blakiston, son of James Thomas and Ann (Thomas) Blakiston, was born December 8, 1846, in St. Mary's county, Maryland, and obtained his early edu- cation at the private school of Topping and Carey, Baltimore. After completing the course of study, he entered the office of his uncle, James H. Thomas, who, in partnership with Severn Teackle Wallis, constituted the law firm of Wallis & Thomas.
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It was with this firm that Mr. Blakiston fitted himself for the profession for which his subsequent career proved him to be so peculiarly adapted. He became noted for his quick appre- ciation of the points to be established, and for his invariable success in getting at the root of the matter by questions during argument and by these illuminating inquiries would either de- velop the strength of the argument or demonstrate its weakness. The firm of Blakiston & Blakiston, of which he was senior member, was formed in 1880, upon the arrival of his brother George in this city. The partnership was maintained until 1897, when Mr. George Blakiston withdrew, the firm having acquired a large connection and built up an enviable reputation for sagacity, eloquence and honorable dealing. Thereafter, until the close of his life, Mr. Blakiston practised alone. He was a strong man, a lawyer of great ability, cool and resource- ful. As a speaker he was versatile, eloquent and logical, never failing to command the attention of his audience. His style was original, his language classical, and his utterances were pervaded by a deep earnestness and sincerity which carried conviction to the minds of his hearers. His intellect was luminous and vigorous and it was his delight to master the most intricate legal problems.
It is the special function of the lawyer to participate actively in the affairs of his community. He is the spokesman for its patriotic observances, for the reform of its abuses and for the enlargement of its functions. To this sphere of pro- fessional life and duty Mr. Blakiston brought the ability, zeal and earnestness which characterized him in the courtroom and the council, and his gifts as an orator were never more com- mandingly displayed than on the political platform. He was an ardent Democrat, and took a prominent part in the Allison campaign, acting as chairman of the independent Democratic organization which supported Mr. Allison against Mr. James
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Bond of the regular ticket. He was also identified with the new judge campaign of 1882, which was the first large inde- pendent movement when three Democratic judges, George William Brown, William Stewart and William Fisher, and two Republican judges, Edward Duffy and Charles E. Phelps, were elected. As a member of the State Brigade staff, with the rank of colonel, under General James R. Herbert, Mr. Blakiston saw active service in the railroad riots of 1877.
Fearless and frank, detesting all subterfuge, with mind and motives singularly transparent, he never sought popu- larity, but stood at all times as an able exponent of the spirit of the age in his efforts to advance progress and improvement. He held at one time the office of judge advocate general and was a close friend of Judge Dennis. Realizing that he would not pass this way again, he conformed his life to a high stand- ard, so that his entire record was in harmony with the strictest principles of integrity and the loftiest ideals of honor. In all his relations to the bar he was essentially courteous, and in private life most genial and companionable. All who met him socially could testify to his charm and affability and to the brilliancy of his conversation, replete with reminiscence and anecdote, with humorous disquisitions upon the topics of the time and fascinating allusions to literature.
The death of Mr. Blakiston occurred October 30, 1909, while he was still in the fullness of his powers and at the height of his activities. He was unmarried. A man of the purest character, the loftiest principles, the calmest judgment, the most unblenching courage, he served his city and his State well. To every able lawyer and brilliant orator there are pre- sented opportunities of advancement, the acceptance of which would be inconsistent with personal and professional integrity. Mr. Blakiston, sensitive to the slightest possible shadow of dishonor, invariably repelled these approaches. He kept un-
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stained the name transmitted to him from generations of noble ancestry. Most truly might be said of him what was said of one of the noblest of earth: "His fame is whiter than it is brilliant."
(IX) George Blakiston, son of James Thomas and Ann (Thomas) Blakiston, was born February 25, 1855, at Leonard- town, St. Mary's county, Maryland, and was educated at Charlotte Hall and St. John's College. After finishing his collegiate course he was for three years engaged in teaching, and during that time studied law in his father's office. After his admission to the bar he practised for five years in St. Mary's county, and in 1882 came to Baltimore, where he be- came associated with his brother, Teackle Wallis Blakiston, forming the law firm of Blakiston & Blakiston.
At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Central Railway Company, held in February, 1892, Mr. Blakiston was elected a member of the board of directors. The railway was then a horse-car road, and during the construction period which has converted the line into an electric road, with every first-class facility, Mr. Blakiston served as chairman of the building committee. In September, 1892, he was elected presi- dent of the company, and his fitness to occupy the position was attested by the fact that he was re-elected at each annual meet- ing until 1898, when the road was purchased by the City Passenger Railway Company. In 1900 he became president of the Realty Trust Company, which subsequently absorbed the Citizens' Trust and Deposit Company and the Atlantic Trust and Deposit Company, becoming the Union Trust Com- pany of Maryland. It was at this time that he retired from the practice of his profession, withdrawing from the firm of Blakiston & Blakiston, which, nevertheless, retained its name without alteration. As a financier Mr. Blakiston was keen, astute and resourceful, possessed that intellectual acumen and
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power of discrimination which enabled him to unravel the intricacies of a case and penetrate quickly a labyrinth of de- tails to whatever constituted the heart and centre of the matter. This caused him to be consulted in regard to a number of critical financial situations and the acceptance of his judg- ment and adoption of the course which he thought most ad- visable under the circumstances, was, in each instance, fol- lowed by the happiest results for all concerned.
Mr. Blakiston always took an active interest in civic affairs, especially in matters pertaining to the Fire Depart- ment. Not one of the many improvements which developed in the department escaped his notice, and he was among the first to begin the publication, in the newspapers, of a series of articles agitating the question of forming a "full-paid" de- partment in the city of Baltimore. He was a member of the Maryland Club and the Bachelors' Cotillon, and attended the Protestant Episcopal church.
As the president of the Belvedere Hotel Company, Mr. Blakiston purchased from Miss Florence Mackubin, the well known artist, her portrait of Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore. It was through the courtesy of Sir William Eden, the descen- dant of the Calverts and of Sir Robert Eden, the last Colonial Governor of Maryland, that Miss Mackubin obtained the privilege of copying the portrait, which is said to be the only life-sized picture of Cecilius Calvert extant. Lord Baltimore is represented in a black velvet jacket and tunic, thickly braided with gold, a gold sword-belt and richly mounted sword, and wearing a Parliamentary collar instead of one of the Cavalier type. This portrait of the great founder of Mary- land hangs over the fireplace in the large hall of the Bel- vedere, and will irresistibly recall those noble traditions loy- ally cherished by every true Marylander.
Mr. Blakiston married, in November, 1892, Maud B.,
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daughter of T. Buchanan Price, who bore him two sons, George Blakiston and T. Buchanan Blakiston.
Strict and literal fulfillment of every trust reposed in him marked the entire career of Mr. Blakiston. A high- minded man of affairs and an able and conscientious lawyer, he was also a patriotic and public-spirited citizen, a title which has ever been synonymous with the name of Blakiston.
His death occurred July 6, 1914.
BERNARD GILPIN
THIS ancient and honorable race of Anglo-Norman origin
has, in the successive generations, given to the world many statesmen, warriors and divines, and has exercised no small influence in the advancement of learning and art. Both in English and American annals the name is a prominent one, its original form, de Gylpyn, having been gradually modern- ized by dropping the "de" and changing the "y" to "i". There is a tradition that the family was planted in England by Bert de Gylpyn, who went thither in the train of William the Con- queror, and whose crest was, as an old rhyme says,
"the rebus of his name, A pineapple-a pine of gold."
Richard de Gylpyn was the first of the family of whom we have authentic knowledge. He displayed signal courage in slaying a wild boar which had committed great devastation in Cumberland and Westmoreland, and as a reward was grant- ed by the Baron of Kendal the estate of Kentmere, situated in the latter county. The Baron, like most of the nobles of that time, could neither read nor write, and therefore, on going to Runnymede to assist in wresting Magna Charta from King John, took Richard de Gylpyn with him as secretary. For this service, as well as for his other achievements, he was knighted, adopting the arms which have ever since been borne by his descendants :
Arms-Or, a boar statant sable, langued and tusked gules.
Crest-A dexter arm embowed, in armor proper, the naked hand grasp- ing a pine branch fesswise vert.
Motto-Dictis factisque simplex.
The estate was increased in the reign of Henry III. by the grant by Peter de Bruys of the Manor of Ulwithwaite to
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Richard, the grandson of the first of that name. This grant, written in Latin, is still preserved by the English head of the family. Kentmere remained in the family until the civil wars of the time of Charles 1., when members of the family were fighting on both sides. About the same period another Richard Gilpin purchased Scaleby Castle, near Carlisle, which has been in the family ever since, although it is not now owned by a Gilpin, but has passed into the female branch.
Among the most distinguished of those who have shed lustre on the family name was Bernard Gilpin, often called "The Apostle of the North." Brought up a Roman Catholic, he was made rector of Houghton, but before the death of Queen Mary he became satisfied with the doctrines of the Reformation, and until his death wielded an immense influ- ence in ecclesiastical affairs. He was summoned to appear be- fore Dr. Bonner, Bishop of London, to stand trial for heresy, and on the journey fell from his horse and broke his leg. Be- fore he was able to appear before the judges, Queen Mary died, the reformers came into power, and he had nothing to fear. In those turbulent times, Bernard, contrary to custom, went unarmed and fearless, and was noted for his unflinching devotion to the people and to what he considered his duty. On one occasion, upon entering a church, he saw a gauntlet suspended in mid-air-a challenge of some trooper in the building. Taking the glove with him, he said during the ser- mon, "I see there is one among you who has, even in this sacred place, hung up a glove in defiance." Then, displaying it, he added, "I challenge him to compete with me in acts of Chris- tian charity," flinging it, as he spoke, upon the floor. Queen Elizabeth offered him the Bishopric of Carlisle, which he de- clined, preferring to preach the Reformation and endow schools. He was a spiritual guide, beloved by old and young alike.
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